Month: January 2013

I want to sing like the birds sing, not worrying about who hears or what they think.
–  Rumi

Dear friends,

Now I have the time to complete the sharing of the lessons learned during my silence practice this year. What I want to share on the blog here is a bit too much to share in one post, so there will be one follow-up post to this one.

The most important thing that I learned in my practice this year is the importance of remaining mentally free. When I use the term ‘mentally free’, I do not mean something over-your-head. I mean being free from ideas of how life should be and accepting life as it presents itself to you, by remaining free from judgments and expectations. Allow me to illustrate this concept in this article, and explain how I learned about it in the next article.

I have observed that many yoga teachers and students have a very strong idea that yoga, and especially meditation, should be practiced seated on the floor in a cross-legged posture. Some will even go so far as to say that using a chair for meditation is not yoga and that it is wrong! This leads to two kinds of unnecessary suffering:

• Physical suffering. In our current times, we are not used to sitting on the ground and we also do not have a lot of physical exercise. The body is then not prepared to sit on the floor, especially not for a prolonged period of time. When an unprepared body is suddenly made to assume a cross-legged posture, the body will hurt like crazy! Moreover, meditation will simply not happen when the body is suffering without reason.

• Mental suffering: First of all, a student will practice a cross-legged posture under the duress of his or his teacher’s idea of what yoga is. Practicing under duress disturbs meditation in many ways, some of which are hard to notice. Secondly, since the student is not able to practice according to that idea in a comfortable way, he will slowly start to think he is a bad student. I will explain the problems of self-condemnation from my personal experience in the next article.

Being mentally free in the example I just gave means letting go of the idea that meditation should be practiced seated on the floor. Learning to sit on the ground is not essential for meditation. I do not mean to say that meditation on the floor does not have certain benefits, but the choice to learn to sit on the ground should be made

• freely, willfully and joyfully;
• free from self-judgments and expectations;
• when the circumstances allow for it.

My experience is that this kind of mental freedom makes the experience of life wonderful. It does require the courage to let go of all external support, become self-reliant, and claim responsibility for how you feel and this is not always easy.

 

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Editor’s Note:

Ilyaz Nasrullah has been interested in spirituality since childhood. Introduced to the Himalayan Yoga Tradition in his early teens through his parents, students of Swami Veda Bharati, Ilyaz started practicing yoga in the Himalayan Tradition at age 20.

Now at age 25, Ilyaz has studied yoga from different teachers in India and Europe. Always having enjoyed sharing his practical experiences with others, Ilyaz started teaching integrated yoga classes two years ago.

When I was new to the Himalayan Yoga Meditation Tradition, I heard two things that I didn’t understand. Both of them were about the mantra that’s given at initiation:  The first was that one should “listen” to the mantra when meditating rather than “thinking” or “doing” the mantra, and the second was that over years of practice, the mantra becomes a friend in our mind that can lead us toward wisdom.

The day after I received my mantra, while I was typing in the law office I was working in (they had typewriters in those days) I could hear the mantra in my mind. It was repeating over and over and seemed to have a life of its own. This struck me as phenomenal.  But after that, for a very long time, I needed to think the mantra when meditating and had this guilty feeling that I must be doing something wrong, must be a really poor student, or I’d be hearing the mantra. But try as I might, I didn’t know how to hear the mantra.

At meditation retreats, I’d sit and do the mantra. When the teacher said to “listen” to the mantra, I’d mentally repeat it.  I knew this wasn’t right, but didn’t know how to do anything else.  This went on for years.

I don’t know when the change began, but sometime over a long time of practicing, the mantra took hold in my mind, and, as it did that first day after initiation, seemed to have it’s own existence.  One day I noticed that the mantra repeated of its own accord in my mind, rather than “me” having to repeat it.  I could sort of sit back and just watch, or listen to it.

Af first, this happened now and then, completely randomly.  Over more years, it happened more often and became the norm.  Sometimes the mantra came into my mind completely on its own, and I’d notice it there repeating itself. Other times, I’d want to hear it and it would come.  There were also times when I’d start thinking the mantra, and it would continue on its own.

Only when that happened did I realize what was meant by “listening” to the mantra.
Now that more years have passed, the mantra has evolved further. It’s rare that I actually think the mantra any more, unless I’m extremely tired, sick, or stressed out.  Usually with a little prompting the mantra appears and sings its song; and it is a beautiful song.

It seems to me that this process was like planting a seed in a garden.  Have you planted seeds in your garden?  If so, you’ll know that there are several steps involved.  First the soil has to be made ready and fertile.  When the seed is placed in the soil, water needs to be applied in the proper amount and frequency, and there is a lot of waiting for anything to happen.  After what seems like a long time, a tiny stem appears above the ground, which, with continued care, slowly grows in size and hardiness until it turns into a mature plant.

It’s the same with the mantra.  Initiation isn’t given to everyone, but only to those whom the teacher senses is ready to receive it, whose mind is fertile.  Oftentimes, practices are given before initiation to cultivate a fertile mind.  Then, at the initiation, a thought seed is planted in that mental soil.  To husband that seed, we repeat the mantra daily and, slowly, over time, the seed matures and becomes a force in our mind.

From this perspective, it made sense that I needed to repeat my mantra intentionally at first.  When first given, the mantra seed hadn’t yet sprouted and had to be nurtured so it could sprout, take hold in the mind, and grow.  As it did so, fitfully at first, and then more consistently, it became a beautiful flowering plant in the garden of my mind.

Over the years I have come to experience absolute delight in my mantra, truly as if it were my oldest and dearest friend.  How this happened I don’t know.  What’s more, when the mantra appears, it calms me down. It’s as if it comes bearing gifts of peace, and this peace affects my whole being.

So now I understand both of the puzzling statements I heard about the mantra in my early yoga days.  Yet, there is so much to learn.

Recently, I learned more about how the mantra leads me toward wisdom and is a true friend.  Henry, a business partner who I find extremely difficult to talk with, phoned me to discuss our joint-project.  Whenever Henry calls, I don’t feel like taking the call.  He has the most outlandish ideas and doesn’t listen when I talk. In the past, I’ve often found it so frustrating to talk with him that I felt an overwhelming compulsion to hang up the phone, and struggled to stay on so as not to be rude.  This particular day, however, rather than struggling to listen, I began to hear the mantra deep in my mind, while, on the surface, listening what Henry was saying.  As usual, Henry went on and on saying things that I completely disagreed with, and when I tried to express my point of view, he just kept talking.

As this went on, I listened to the mantra, relaxing into that beautiful sound. It was like being in a deep warm pool, while hearing Henry-birds chattered in the distant trees.  From this comfortable place, Henry’s insensitivity and ridiculous point of view didn’t bother me.  Instead, I was able to relax and hear out the whole one-sided conversation, which went on and on and on, and I did not have the usual fight to stay on the phone until he finished.  When Henry’s conversation ended, I was still relaxed.

Being able to listen to Henry in this way was very helpful.  Henry isn’t really a bad person. Although extremely difficult, he means well, and he and I are tied together in a mutually beneficial business situation that would be extremely costly emotionally and financially to unwind.  Because of the mantra, I was able to hear what Henry said, not act badly myself, and ended up feeling very well. I’ll bet Henry felt fine too.

What better friend can a person have? The mantra is my friend.

The Meditation Tradition of the Himalayas

The true treasure found within the Himalayan Tradition is the initiation of the Mantra Meditation Tradition of the Himalayas.

It contains the science of sound and word as its essence. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and God was the Word.” Everything on earth is developed out of the original vibration of that Word – the original creative sound.
This means that sound and words are the most important principles of existence. They are both the source and originator of matter, and the Keys to becoming free from it.

The Initiation Process

Initiation is a process few in the whole of Humanity know of or understand. In it the Celestial World reveals itself, via the consciousness and wisdom of the Holy Masters, and once revealed it enables the individual to become more aware and re-order their Destiny.

The word and sound coming from the Unity State of the Celestial World which is God, is also known as transcendental speech, or para-vak.

Here it takes the form of speechless speech and wordless words!

It is expressed in the way of the feminine “She the seeing one!” From here a being of consciousness touches our Higher Self, not the sensual self, not the self of the five senses. What is touched is an inner level of the mind which looks toward the Higher self and not the self of the senses.

This inner level is called antah karana – the inner instrument – and represents the intuitive ability of a person.

Here the beam of consciousness which originates in the spiritual level of the Self and flows from it produces a mental vibration. The mind is agitated by this shining light, similar to a lightning flash. So in a fraction of a second, which can be like a 750th part of a second, the whole book of the Vedas and all 330 million Mantras could be revealed.

This sound is known as the sound of the power of will or the pashyanti-vak.

This experience can be compared with a seed (bija), or the development of a single point of consciousness (bindu). As an analogy, such an experience can reveal all details taken by a satellite over a huge region. In other words, this point of consciousness contains vast knowledge and data. For example, we could imagine all the colors of a peacock’s tail are actually contained in the first fertilized egg of a peacock.
This is expressed in a feminine way as madhyama-vak, the middle speech. The middle is referring to existing between mental vibration and actual gross speech.

This knowledge arises out of the depths of the discriminating faculty or “buddhi”, reaches the outer layers of the rational mind, and transforms itself into verbal thoughts. Mental words are formed from these higher-level vibrations as inner speech.

When they transform into even denser vibratory states they become spoken words or Vaikhari-vak.

This is a harsh sound that travels outwards – the first step of outer speech.

In buddhi, the discriminating faculty of the mind, a vibration is formed that stimulates prana – the life energy of the yogis. This now activates the speech organs and the end product is an articulated speech – the spoken words – which the ears of the student will hear in the process of transmission known as initiation.

The Mantra, which is given in initiation by an authentic teacher of the Tradition in a prescribed way, will be explained to the student, together with the method of practice he should follow. The word Mantra means: “The sound which protects a human being while he brings the sound to a rhythm of vibration within himself.“ This sound dispels the darkness of his ignorance and disorientation within his mind and brings forward, in a miraculous way, his inner being thereby introducing him to himself. It guides him to his inner center of consciousness from where all consciousness flows. It leads him from the darkness of ignorance to the light of wisdom, and from mortality to immortality. This is what the mystery of Easter reminds us of: the ego has to go through a crucifying death process – to be conquered – in order to be resurrected in the light of the true Being of Humanity.

The initiation process enables this inner experience.

Whoever receives a Mantra in this way no longer needs a teacher. The mantra becomes the guide through an inner unfolding process created by itself. Seriously practicing and repeating the mantra by concentrating on its meaning, with love and dedication, helps us to experience the highest level of consciousness such that our consciousness comes to realize itself, in itself, through itself.

The mantra can lead the practitioner to a state of meditative stillness where the godlike consciousness is resting in complete stillness out of which it sends messages to the practitioner of great importance concerning his destiny path.

“To perceive and hear this inner message is the real goal of all practices which we can then design effortlessly with joy, dedication, and love.”

In this tradition, meditation is teaching the practitioner not only about the physical body and senses and the lower mind, but it reveals all aspects of the mind, including the intuitive, the unconscious, and the superconscious. She helps a practitioner to become free from all mental disturbances and hindrances. She is not only a method to calm the mind but also forms a self-training program which teaches the practitioner of any and all levels of personality to conquer himself.

The Crystal Clear Mind

This tradition teaches that the essence of the human mind is like a clear crystal that has the task to mirror the earthly realm to the Celestial World, and the Celestial World to the earth. The only ability every human being has, that can lead him to freedom, is the discriminating faculty of the mind or Buddhi (all other sense abilities and thoughts bind him to the world).

This can teach the human the core difference between what is essential and what is inessential. It can differentiate between the colors of identification and the clear crystal of the pure mind. Through this differentiation, the colors are systematically `drained` from the mind. This process is known in Sanskrit as “vairagya”.

Now, the mind in its true nature is realized as the most precious instrument of a human – clear and untouched by life experiences, which only cloud and color it.

Consciousness experiences itself as stillness, only observing and witnessing, in full control of the movements of the mind. Then the seer rests in its true nature. That is what Patañjali says in his Yoga Sutra. When this is not so, we live in a state of permanent identification with the movements of our minds.

The Art to Teach

It’s now the yoga teachers’ task to demonstrate to their students what exactly these movements of the mind are. Also how these movements produce an illusion that leads them to experience the mind as colored and darkened. Through their systematic teaching and a variety of bodily practices, together with breath work and mental practices, they can help the students sharpen their discriminative faculty in every practice.

In this way, the student slowly realizes ignorance and attachment are not essential or unavoidable things and rather are the source of all of life`s difficulties. A very soothing and wonderful experience that results in this way shows the students that they are capable of reducing ignorance, pain, and suffering.

Our basic philosophical stance and the expression of Sankhya-Philosophy is that:
Suffering and pain in the world can be extenuated through philosophical analysis.
That means learning to develop a sharp discriminative ability, which enables us to experience Consciousness as the untouched seer; the unmanifest as the source or origin of all natures, and the source of all being, together with the manifest universe of material existence.

The art of the teacher is now to help the student experience the insight and differentiation between the manifest and unmanifest world’s pure consciousness which is the path to freedom. This is achieved through the application of systematic lessons and developmental practices.

Tree Observation Practice

For solid meditative practice, our teachers can teach the tree observation practice:

• Chose a tree, with which you feel a connection within the area of your home
• Every day for 5 minutes stay in silence in front of the tree and observe it
• Develop a pure, objective, witnessing point of view, free from judgments
• This observation practice leads you from pure observation, from seeing to becoming only the seer or experience – perceiving with your whole being.

In the Upanishads it is written: “O let my whole being become as a single eye.”

Through such a practice over 4 years, the student develops a profound discriminative ability: they learn to discriminate between the sensory abilities which bind them to the world, and the intuitive perceptual abilities – which develop from the Ajna chakra (the third eye).

This ability enables the perception of intuitive messages from the Celestial World and can be discriminated from unconscious impulses coming from the subconscious mind.

It is a slow emotional and mental cleansing process that activates a physical cleansing process which can be developed further through serious Hatha Yoga practice.

The Seven Preparatory Steps for Meditation

This cleansing process can be deepened through daily practice, if possible performed at the same time each day, in an erect and comfortable posture, either on a chair with feet flat on the ground, so that the head neck and trunk are in a straight line, or a meditative posture on the ground, sitting with crossed legs. This posture should only be adopted when the knees can touch the ground. And when the body has such a stable foundation where the head, neck, and spine can hold themselves erect, you are ready.

The advice of the Masters of the Himalayas is to sit facing north. If this is not possible, then you may face east or west. In this daily practice, it is important to be in a state of high concentration completely mentally awake and attentive and to sit in a comfortable erect posture only as long as it is comfortable for you. Five minutes with high concentration and feeling completely relaxed is better than half an hour with poor concentration pretending to meditate.

Seven small systematic steps help to move from the restlessness of daily life into the stillness of your own being:

• Mental purification:

The first step is mental purification. We look at the movements of our mind as if we look at a film, then imagine stepping back one or two steps, watching the images of the film without identifying with them. So we look at one mental movement after the other. We give each a title and place them like a book on a shelf. In an inner dialogue with the mind, we assure him that we will deal with these subjects at a different time, but not now. In this way, we develop a relationship with our best friend, our mind, and ask its help to sit still in a calm and deep concentration. This will take two or three minutes and then you are ready to continue.

• Breath observation (1):

 Now we bring our attention to the point of our nostrils and observe the cool inhalation and warm exhalation. Nothing else. This calms the mind and so relaxes and calms the body.

• Breath observation (2):

 As soon as the breath is flowing calmly and evenly, without a pause, without noise or effort, we follow the flow of the breath into the body. We observe how the body expands during inhalation and contracts during exhalation. We continue with this practice for two or three minutes.

• Breath observation (3):

 Now you cultivate the image of the breath as a pure wave flowing through your whole being. As it does so, it cleanses all impurities and leaves you feeling energized and refreshed. This you can do for no more than two minutes.

• Breath observation (4):

This fifth step is the most important one. Observe the breath flow as inhalation and exhalation. Each of these two flows you receive continuously as an incredible gift. There is nothing you have to do or be in order to receive them. They come as a sign of unconditional love and a symbol of true hope, for which you have to do nothing. Realize that you receive this gift from a power that accepts you as you are – with all of your weaknesses and strengths. Now you can realize that you cannot inhale or exhale by a pure act of your own will, you only experience yourself as a neutral observing consciousness, like a scientist, having the inhalations and exhalations flow according to their own power and rhythm. Now you can change your language in your teaching. Instead of making your student dependent on your instructions by saying: “Inhale and exhale as I tell you”, you guide your students into freedom, helping them to become scientists by gently inviting them: “While you move this way or that, in this or that asana, simply observe the natural flow of your being’s own inhalation and exhalation.” Do this practice for two or three minutes.

• Deep relaxation:

 With the observation of the fifth step, relax from the crown of your head to the tip of your toes, and from the tip of your toes to the crown of your head. With the realization of the fifth step you create the basis of all true relaxation. You have nothing to do; you are nurtured for free from a celestial power. You can develop love, gratitude and surrender, all of which will help you to relax deeply and completely – you are freed from making an effort.

• Meditation:

 With this step, you now go with the deep relaxation and observation of your breath flow as a miraculous gift into your heart. There imagine a sacred cave in a form of your choice, that is filled with beautiful light, settle yourself down there, and develop the inner attitude: “Thy will be done, not mine.” And there learn to listen to the sound of your mantra.

The Personal Mantra

The treasure of the Initiation Tradition of the Himalayas is that every prepared student receives a personal mantra from an authentic teacher of the tradition in the initiation process. The student receives the sound, which is called his personal mantra, and the teacher reveals the method of meditation. Most mantras form independently from the breathing process. Their sound vibrations are like precious remedies having an impact that moves from the mental level through the pranic level, to the physical body level, healing all that needs to be healed. It also reveals and shows the seer, or our true state of being – pure consciousness – that we in essence are. These experiences revealed through mantra meditation, bring the student to a place of deep stillness and silence. Out of this silence, the center of consciousness – the inner teacher – sends messages which help the student to understand his fate. Through this, the student comes to understand his destiny, change it if necessary, and finally to order it – place it in a form that he can live in the world.

The essential spiritual training consists of noticing, without judgment, when the mind wanders to unresolved yet important subjects and issues and then gently and lovingly moving it back to the flow of the breath and the sound of the mantra again and again and again.

The Teacher – Student Relationship

How can a teacher best teach meditation is a frequently asked question. The answer is simple: They can only teach what they have gained through practice, and what they have experienced for themselves. Carefully, with great attentiveness, they share their experiences with the student, giving them only as much as they can digest at any one time. It is also good to know that the student can only take in what they are prepared for and so usually will not take in that which would be too much for them. Nevertheless, we do not recommend the learning of practices from books, because this can lead to errors in practice which disrupt the system of the student, at best slowing development, sometimes becoming unbearable.

Therefore learn to speed up slowly (more haste less speed).

This means only taking little initial steps, forming a solid foundation. From here, one ability after another may develop, taking the student into first relaxation and then silence. Here the student may discover their ‘observation consciousness’ – the seer in them – which they are. Consciousness observes itself.

The demand for systematic spiritual training answers itself by generating its own sadhana – our own daily practice.

When the Secrets Reveal Themselves through the Practice of Yoga Bindu

Most of us have the same goal for our practice: to achieve a one-pointed mind field. Prior to this stage, we experience our minds as being disturbed, scattered, and distracted. So our aim is to achieve one pointed concentration – to develop a point of focus where there is concentration on the smallest imaginable point. The translation of the Sanskrit word Bindu explains that from this one point, there will be an explosion through to a new level of consciousness.

So the first step in our practice is developing this one-pointed concentration which we can sustain over a long period of time, without a pause, and in a state of love and dedication. Here we experience, according to our tradition and through the vibration of the secret sound of the mantra, new levels of consciousness. This will show us who we are and where we are coming from.

Being conscious of where we are coming from – the place we call the Celestial World – enables us to attain an inner attitude of humility and gratitude and a stance in which we bow before all living beings and the forces of life. This becomes possible because we have experienced our essence as pure consciousness, not learned it from theory, and so we naturally assimilate ourselves into the Universal Order of existence.

Now the most beautiful definition of yoga reveals itself to the practitioner:

“Yoga means to give dignity to each and every moment of life.”

When you are able to live this path of dignity, then you will be able to fulfill the tasks and duties your destiny and society are giving to you with utmost responsibility and perfection.

Spiritual Friendship Circles

A wonderful help in the learning process of spiritual training is the formation of spiritual friendship circles in which we apply the method of ‘dialogue’.

We sit in a circle of friends, respecting and accepting each other as equals. Everybody expresses freely, in turn, their life experiences and questions without interruption from others. As friends, we learn to share freely everything that we have to offer without judgment or discussion. Everyone speaks only from their heart in trust that great results will come. Through this practice we allow an experience to emerge which is referred to in the Bible as “When two gather together in my name I am also present with you.”

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Editor’s Note:

Wolfgang Bischoff studied with Swami Rama of the Himalayas. As well as being the Spiritual Director of Himalaya Institut Deutschland, he is a mantra initiator and is also a member of the AHYMSIN Adhyatma Samiti, or Spiritual Committee. Himalaya Institut Deutschland celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2011.